Appearance concerns, psychosocial outcomes, and the feasibility of implementing an online intervention for adolescents receiving outpatient burn care

Riobueno-Naylor, Alexa; Williamson, Heidi; Canenguez, Katia; Kogosov, Ann; Drexler, Alana; Sadeq, Farzin; DePamphilis, Matthew; Holcomb, Juliana M; Stoddard, Frederick J; Lydon, Martha; Michael Murphy, J; Sheridan, Robert L

Abstract

The current study assessed the prevalence of appearance concerns, psychosocial difficulty, and use of an appearance-focused social and psychological support resource (Young Person’s Face IT; YPF) within a population of teens (12-17 year-olds) receiving outpatient burn care with the goal to assess the feasibility of routine use of the resource in outpatient burn care. The study sample included 78 patients ages 12-17 receiving outpatient care for burns at 1 hospital. Appearance concerns were measured via the Burn Outcomes Questionnaire Appearance Subscale, the Appearance Subscale of the Body Esteem Scale for Adolescents, and a 2-part question which asked participants directly about appearance concerns related to the burn injury. A large majority (70.0%) of study participants reported appearance concerns on at least 1 appearance measure and girls reported more burn-related appearance concerns compared to boys. Psychosocial difficulty was measured via the Pediatric Symptom Checklist-17 (PSC-17) and measures of social functioning were collected and compared within the sample by burn size, burn location, sex, and appearance concerns. Internalizing symptoms were prevalent on the PSC-17 (18.6% risk) and decreased self-worth and increased social anxiety symptoms were significantly associated with having appearance concerns. Although interest in YPF was high (78.3%), actual use of the resource among those who signed up to pilot it (n=46 participants) was low (19.4% use). Results indicate that there is a need for and interest in appearance-focused social anxiety resources for adolescents with burn injuries such as YPF, but more research is needed to understand its feasibility in clinical practice.
Key words: Pediatric Burns, Appearance, Psychosocial Functioning, Young Person’s Face IT, Burn Outcomes Questionnaire, Body Esteem Scale

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 12, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Jun 28, 2020
• Publication Date: Feb 1, 2021
• Deposit Date: Aug 31, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 29, 2021
• Journal: Journal of Burn Care and Research
• Print ISSN: 1559-047X
• Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 42
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 32-40
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jbcr/iraa108
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/6056855